Notion's AI features sit inside a document editor — a fundamentally different context from a chat interface. I explored how AI assistance could feel native to the editing experience using Rive for the interaction feedback and Play for the full flow.
AI in a document editor has a unique constraint — it can't interrupt the flow of writing. A chat-style AI panel would pull focus away from the content. The interaction needs to feel like an extension of the editor, not a separate tool.
Inline suggestions — AI-generated text appears as ghost text ahead of the cursor, similar to code completion. Rive handles the fade-in animation with a shimmer that distinguishes it from typed text. Accepting is a single keystroke.
Block-level actions — selecting a paragraph surfaces AI actions (summarize, expand, rewrite) in a floating bar. The bar entrance uses Rive for a soft spring animation that doesn't feel jarring while you're reading.
The feedback loop — when AI rewrites a block, the old text doesn't just disappear. It cross-fades with a subtle diff highlight — green for additions, dim for removals — so you can see what changed at a glance.
AI in productivity tools should be invisible until needed and obvious when active. The transition between these two states is where the design work lives — too subtle and users miss it, too loud and it interrupts focus.
Rive — inline suggestion shimmer, floating bar spring animation Play — full editing flow prototype with AI interactions